Bats: Audio iPhone / GH4

Bats have been showing up to our backyard around 9 at night. Krissy filmed them with her iPhone and played the clip back to me, pointing out that there was an intermittent static and clicking noise that could be heard. As a control, I made a video on my iPhone and a GH4. The same thing happened on my phone, but did not occur on the GH4. In both clips, there is an occasional higher pitched bat squeak. I don’t have an answer for what exactly is occurring with the static sound, but my guess is that it is the result of bat sonar and Apple’s electronics. While you might have to turn up your volume a little to hear it1, the sound is audible even on laptop speakers.

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5 thoughts on “Bats: Audio iPhone / GH4”

I’ve noticed some weird audio while recording videos on the iPhone. Clicks and things like that. I think there is a lot of processing going on (noise cancelling and other things) on these phones. I definitely heard the static on this.

You should record them with the MKH50 and the Sound Device. Do it at 96 kHz. Then slow it down to 48 kHz (half speed) and see what it sounds like.

My first thought was also that it was some sort of digital processing that the iPhone was doing. It’s interesting that is shows up on the bats. Do you recall what you were recording when you noticed similar weirdness?

I’ll do a stereo recording of the bats, and then another with just the MKH50.